Owners of restro-bars, clubs given permission to sell stocked beer to liquor shops.
Amid Lockdown 3.0, i.e. from 4th May (Thursday), the Delhi government allowed standalone government-run liquor shops to open. And by May 22, private liquor shops including those in markets too were allowed to run.
Now it seems there is good news for the city’s restro-bars, hotels, and clubs to minimize their financial losses. According to the Excise Act, the restro-bars, hotels, and clubs can only sell liquor to their customers, and it would be a one-time relaxation. “In wake of the extraordinary situation emerging out of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, the government has allowed these establishments to sell the stock of beer expiring on June 30 to liquor vends,” the official told PTI.
The good news came in as the excise department got many requests from the owners of these places to allow the selling of their stock of beer lying unsold as it would expire soon amid the lockdown restrictions as the shelf life of beer is around six months. This step will ultimately help in bringing down the financial losses that were faced by the restro-bars, hotels, and clubs because of their shutdown past two months. However, they cannot sell their stock of beer expiring after June 30,” the official added.
According to the officials, it will totally be up to the owners of the restro-bars, clubs, and hotels to get in an agreement with the liquor shop owners, without any interruption from the government in the process. “It is for the restro-bars, clubs, and hotels to decide at what rates do they want to sell their stock to liquor shops,” the official said.
